The Goofy Challenge and a Half - A little late but better than never

As I was packing for Lake Buena Vista, Florida, better know as Walt Disney World; I check The Weather Network.com it read - Saturday (half marathon day) 9 degrees with clouds. Sunday ( full marathon day) sunny and 11 degrees. WOOT WOOT… add 10 degrees on for body heat and we are looking a very nice Barrie RoadRunners official tank top running day!! Nooooooooice.
So with some hesitation I tossed in my Angus Glen 10 miler jacket and my NYC Marathon ¾ zipper jacket. However; I figured the evenings would be cooler so a necessity they would be. Little did I know….

Cut to the Buffalo Airport on Wednesday January 6th. There I am with my sister hanging around the departure lounge, after having successfully making through the TSA (transportation security authority) screening process. I must say the TSA Agent with the rubber glove was very gentle…
When what to my wondering eyes should appear but three Duffies. I KNOW THEM!!!!! There was Jim, Janet and Janet’s Mum Marion. Off we went on a Jet Blue flight to the sunny side of the world, or so I thought.
Upon our arrival at the Airport then our transport to the Caribbean Beach Resort – strange and unusual sights were filling my eyes. THEY WERE WEARING PARKAS, TOQUES & GLOVES. Uhmm HELLO… Florida the sunshine state… what is going on? Only the biggest cold snap in the history of Florida. Niicce. And me without my winter running gear. PERFECT!!

The expos was great. Lots to see and do – bargains if you searched for them. The Goofy apparel was in great danger of disappearing quickly, so I was glad I went first thing on Thursday.
Friday night a number of us gathered at Corondo Springs Resort in Disney World and enjoyed a wonderful meal. Then back to our respective rooms as we needed to be up around 3am to catch the 4am bus to the Epcot Centre – where the start for the Half Marathon was.
Man was it cold & rainy. Luckily Shannon invested two green backs for me and I was the proud owner of a couple rain ponchos. As we gathered at the starting corals I looked up amidst the darkened rain ladened skies and my mouth dropped open and an audible – ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME !!! exited my gapping mouth. IT WAS SNOWING.
I’m from Barrie! I’m a RoadRunner – piece of cake! Yeah was still cold.
I love the Half at Disney – generally as you run through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot there are Characters galore, not just the kind running in a Minnie Mouse costume – but Minnie herself. Alas I think due to the cold they weren’t all out and about. Oh well. There is always the marathon. Right?

After the half – I gathered my posse and we headed out to Hollywood Studios for a day fraught with adventure. One never knows what hairy scary things will happen on the Studio tours ride back through movie history – surely not the same thing as two years ago.
*blank stare* apparently it can.

Then after a rousing good time we headed back to our resort and met up with “the gang” and carb loaded at Shutters. They didn’t have room for a reservation for 10 – but they could make room for two tables of 5.
*blank stare*

Marathon morning loomed early – it was cold – again, but no snow thankfully. I was once again decked out in my finest Dollar store rain poncho! Thank you SOOOO much Shannon!
As we huddled around the twirling lights for the little bit of warmth coming from the diesel generator, our plan of attack was well in gear. I had brought along a Chiropractor for those last minute adjustments.
Off we went in search of our “joint” corral – since there were no corral police – we picked one the closest one to us – which is about a 15 minute walk from the staging area.
After a spectacular show of fire works the first wave was off, then the second, then the third … Then it was US!!!!!
Cindy and I had our race plan and we were sticking to it like glue! Pictures at every mile marker & with all the characters, to hell with our time; this was never going to be a PB race anyway. Well I broke my camera having dropped it several times during the course of the trip from the bus from my resort to the staging area and the corrals. Whoops.
Drat! Oh well. Off we trotted. Breaks at every mile marker – lost Jim, Janet and Tracy shortly after departure – Janet’s blinky Mickey ears were lost in a sea of runners.

I thoroughly enjoyed the run. Cindy was a terrific running partner – we had a blast whenever we could. I had a pack of tic tacs in my running belt cuz you just never know right? I mean I did meet a Dr earlier, it could be my lucky day and who wants runner’s breath!?! Plus it was a great pace keeper (found that out during the half marathon), Cindy always knew where I was and it’s a great conversation starter? “Hey what’s making that noise? Change? Jelly beans?” No way. PINK TIC-TACs – that whole calorie and a half is going to get me across the finish line!

The sun finally managed to poke its head out from the clouds and it was a wonderful run! It’s a terrific opportunity to see the parks and smell them too i.e. the Animal Kingdom very oderific. Yummy!
We met so many people through our Barrie RoadRunners aparel. Many times I hear " Hey Barrie, I'm from Ottawa or I'm from Brampton. You talk for a while and before you know it a couple of miles are knocked off. Even citizens from the great US of A would inquire as to what a Barrie was and after a short geography lesson ( you know that big land mass to the North of you... yeah? Well that's where we are from)

And to top it all off - it was a PB for Cindy. She's not as excited as I am about it! She did the Half Marathon the day before then PB'd her marathon the next day! I think that was awesome.

This race is no Mickey Mouse operation, if you’ll excuse the pun. There were roughly 55,000 participants and 6000 volunteers. It ran very smoothly. There was entertainment along the way, school bands, choirs, Disney folks & characters.
I picked up my race kit in about 10 minutes. They did inquire to see my ID, gave me my bibs and one time chips along with instructions on how to get to the next building to get to the Expos. ( I promptly got lost three steps out of the door)
I walked through the Goofy line for my race kit. 1 minute later I had it in hand and off we went.
The staging & family reunion area is well marked for finding your runner. Not so great with the posting of signs to get back to the resort buses, but, the sheer number of volunteers there (and the look of total desperation) they seemed to pop out of the woodwork and point you in the right direction.
I would certainly do the Goofy again. This was a great learning experience for me to figure out whether or not I could do a back to back anything. Now it’s established that I can & I’m Goofy for doing it, my next challenge will be speed and which races are worthy of my talents. Ah-ha ha.